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Dependant parents/grandparents of British Citizens can apply for family permit to the UK under surinder singh route

A parent or grandparent may be able to apply for an EEA family permit as a family member of a British citizen who has worked in another EEA country. This is known as the ‘Surinder Singh’ route.

To be eligible, the applicant must be a national of a country outside the EEA and related to a British citizen as their parent or grandparent (or of their spouse or civil partner) and he/she must dependent on them.

The applicant must also be able to show that the British citizen genuinely lived (based their ‘centre of life’) in the EEA country in which they were both resident before returning to the UK. This means that the applicant will need to, amongst other things, be able to provide evidence of: how long the British citizen was resident in the EEA country; how the British citizen integrated into the EEA country (eg whether they speak the language, had children there etc); that the British citizen was working there; and that the applicant was living in the EEA country with the British citizen.

In terms of dependency, the applicant must be able to prove that he/she is wholly or mainly financially dependent on the British citizen to meet his or her essential needs in order to qualify for an EEA family permit under this route.

There is no Home Office application fee payable in relation to this type of application. If the application is successful an applicant will be granted an EEA Family Permit which is valid for six months. Before the expiry of this, the applicant can apply for a five year Residence Card if they meet the key requirements as detailed above and can prove they are living with the British citizen in the UK.